UPDATE: Why I’m not voting for Karen Lewis and CORE + Retired teacher to the Tribune: “You persist in cruel, one-note tirades .” | Fred Klonsky

Retired teacher to the Tribune: “You persist in cruel, one-note tirades against the long-honored state contract with teachers.” | Fred Klonsky:

Guess what? Congresswoman Schakowsky is “on the record.” Now I need to know one more thing.

by Fred Klonsky

Surprise!
Not three hours after posting about my exchanges with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky’s District Director, Leslie Combs, my phone rang.
Why it was Leslie Combs again. She was the one who left the voice mail saying that “given (Jan Schakowsky is) not an expert on the topic of the state, she’s not going to talk on the record on this issue.”
But Ms Combs found a letter the Congresswoman wrote to a constituent about state public employee pensions.
Hey. Congresswoman Schakowsky is on the record after all.

Hi Fred – below is the text of a letter that Congresswoman Schakowsky wrote in response to 

Congresswoman Schakowsky “is not going to talk on the record” about public employee pensions.

by Fred Klonsky

I have been puzzled of late by the silence of Chicago north side and north suburban Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky on the issue of the state’s public employee pensions, including teacher pensions. Many of these employees live in her congressional district, of course.
Democrat Schakowsky has made much of her defense of Social Security and Medicare in Congress.
How ironic it is then that the Democratic Party organization in her district, of which she is the de facto head, is leading the charge against public employee pensions in Springfield.
These pension bombers would include Senator Dan Biss and Representatives Elaine Nekritz and Robyn Gabel.
So I called Congresswoman Schakowsky’s legislative office here in Chicago (773 506 8342) and spoke with her 

Someone else’s neighborhood school. VIDEO

by Fred Klonsky

It is important to note that this was filmed on a Sunday afternoon in 65 degree weather, and the children were not carrying backpacks. These children will have to make this journey twice a day,

Why I’m not voting for Karen Lewis and CORE. But wish I could.

by Fred Klonsky

One of the most popular  of my Ten Minute Drawings that I have posted on this site is the imaginary poster,“Karen Lewis for Mayor.”
In some of my cartoons I depict a conversation between the mouse and the chicken. 
In this particular one there is this conversation:
“When’s the election?” asks the chicken.
“Not soon enough,” says the mouse.
I originally drew the cartoon back in September during the Chicago teacher strike.
I posted it again this weekend on Facebook.
Someone will run against Mayor Emanuel. Maybe more than one person.
Rahm’s polling numbers are in the dumpster. But he has millions of his Hollywood and corporate friends’ dollars 

Retired teacher to the Tribune: “You persist in cruel, one-note tirades against the long-honored state contract with teachers.”

by Fred Klonsky

Letter to the Editor, Chicago Tribune.

April 22, 2013

 State’s pension system

As a retired public school teacher dependent on the promises inherent in our Illinois pension system, I have watched with equal parts incredulity and horror as the Tribune’s editorials on teacher pensions have taken on the emotional intensity of a petulant 2-year-old kicking and screaming in the middle of the street. Your monomaniacal obsession regarding our pensions is embarrassing, given what you must know about the outsized influence of wealthy corporations, banks and individuals in Springfield, their abilities to shape tax policy and garner lucrative tax breaks, and the barely concealed disdain and revulsion such parties show toward public-service employees and their unions.The rich and powerful understand how to use their money and power to 

D.C. cheating issue calls test-driven incentives into question | EdSource Today

D.C. cheating issue calls test-driven incentives into question | EdSource Today:

D.C. cheating issue calls test-driven incentives into question - by Charles Taylor Kerchner / commentary

by Charles Taylor Kerchner / commentary

The smoke surrounding allegations of test score cheating in the Washington, D.C., public schools burst into flame last week. In a 4,300-word blog post, titledMichelle Rhee’s Reign of Error, the veteran educational journalist John Merrow linked the former schools chancellor with documents that suggest that she knew about widespread cheating on standardized tests and looked the other way.

Merrow drew parallels between Washington and Atlanta, where former superintendent Beverly Hall and 34 others have been indicted. But the underlying question is whether school reform can successfully be driven by rewards and punishments tied to standardized tests.

First, the Watergate question: What did Rhee know and when did she know it? As U.S.A. Today reported, District of Columbia Public Schools officials have long maintained that a 2011 test-cheating scandal that generated two government probes was limited to one elementary school. Merrow, however, reported that a long-buried memo from an outside data consultant warned as far back as January 2009 that educator cheating on 2008 standardized tests could have been widespread, with 191 teachers in 70 schools “implicated in possible testing infractions.”

Consultant Fay G. Sanford noted substantial numbers of erasures on test forms where corrections were made from wrong answers to correct ones. (Erasers leave smudge marks that the machines 

State toughens regs for interns teaching English learners - by Kathryn Baron

by Kathryn Baron

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing will now require non-credentialed Teach For America teachers and other intern teachers to receive more training in how to teach English learners and to get weekly on-the-job mentoring and supervision. The Commission’s unanimous vote last week followed two hours of public testimony and debate among commissioners over 14 separate...

UPDATE: Ravitch Asks the Questions Ed Notes Online: Son is Not Taking the State Tests

Ed Notes Online: Josmar Trujillo: Why My Son is Not Taking the State Tests:

DOE Official: State Ed, Tisch and the power players Pearson etc. are on a mission to destroy parent voice

by ed notes online

State Ed, Tisch and the power players Pearson etc. are on a mission to destroy parent voice. This whole thing is a sham. Parents are being bullied and coerced into taking these corporate sponsored assessments. They can NOT be forced take this but State Ed is making it extremely difficult giving the appearance that it is illegal.... Someone who works for the DOE

Interesting point from someone who works for the DOE. Here is the edited email (to protect the sender):

What are teachers supposed to do when a parent shows up with a letter stating that they were not 

Ravitch Asks the Questions Leo Casey Avoids As He Finds Excuses to Align With Gates

by ed notes online

Oh, sophistry, thy name is Leo Casey.

There is nothing like another missive from "AFT/UFT Excuse-maker in chief" Leo Casey to obfuscate an issue.

Last week he asked: Is There A ‘Corporate Education Reform’ Movement?”, using former Superintendent and policy maker Larry Cuban's case for there not being a corporate conspiracy as a jumping off point. Cuban closes with:

these “corporate reformers” have achieved some important and, to my way of thinking, worthwhile changes in the rhetoric and policy of school improvement. I take those changes up in Part 2.

Casey, in trying to justify the collaboration of the AFT/UFT with deformers, tries to distinguish...

two different senses of the term “corporate education reform” – the notion that there is a movement for education reform led by corporate elites and the idea that there is a movement for education 

Randi Sellout Tour Coming to Fruition in Newark

by ed notes online

if you can't trust these people with the budget, how are you going to trust them with teacher pay? Too many details were left to be ironed out later. Well, now it's later. And NJDOE is unveiling a teacher evaluation system soillogical, innumerate, deceptive, ill-informed, and franklybizarre that the prospect of a fair merit pay system looks increasingly remote.

One of our fave bloggers, Jersey Jazzman, who followed the Newark contract talks in depth on his blog, gives us the latest update, which he translates into: NJ's new teacher evaluation system: Operation Hindenberg

Joe Del Grosso joins a long line of local leaders from Detroit, Hartford, 

Josmar Trujillo: Why My Son is Not Taking the State Tests

by ed notes online

One of the strongest motivating factors for our decision was how politicized and pressurized the environment around testing has become.... Josmar Trujillo


I met Josmar, who was co-PTA president a year ago when the DOE wanted to close Peninsula Prep and even though I have a strong position opposing charters, it is still not easy closing down a school. So I wrote a column about the sleazy crew at Tweed and the games they play with everyone.

Why My Son is Not Taking the State Tests

April 18, 2013, 4:00 a.m.

By Josmar Trujillo

DeBlasio Calls for Investigation of Moskowitz Operation: Monday 1PM Press Conf

by ed notes online

“If they spent all that money, why are there still holes in the ceiling of the locker room?” asked Pamela Bynoe, president of the Global parents association. As for those special-education renovations, Cecila Green, whose child attends that school, says no major repairs have been done, except for a paint job last summer and some new smart boards. Oh, and those lighting fixtures leaking PCBs? They are still present in all the classrooms of the three public schools. ... Juan Gonzalez

Monday, April 22 at 1PM at Tweed (52 Chambers Street) event calling for an investigation into Success Academy. Bill deBlasio will be hosting a press conference calling for an investigation into Success Academy and Eva Moskowitz.

This alone might make diBlasio my favorite for mayor.

deBlasio will be talking about the special access the NYCDOE gives Eva Moskowitz and the disparities between 

UPDATE: Daily Kos: Boston, West, Newtown: For Whom the Bells Toll, For Whom the Alarms Ring

Daily Kos: Boston, West, Newtown: For Whom the Bells Toll, For Whom the Alarms Ring:

West, Texas plant could have fueled terrorism

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

Seriously.
In this story from Reuters we learn that

The fertilizer plant that exploded on Wednesday, obliterating part of a small Texas town and killing at least 14 people, had last year been storing 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate that would normally trigger safety oversight by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Why is that important?  Well, let's start with this:

Fertilizer plants and depots must report to the DHS when they hold 400 lb (180 kg) or more of the substance. Filings this year with the Texas Department of State Health Services, which weren't shared with DHS, show the plant had 270 tons of it on hand last year.

The bomb that took down the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, as Wikipedianotes,

The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19 children under the age of 6,[1] and injured 

Boston, West, Newtown: For Whom the Bells Toll, For Whom the Alarms Ring

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

is the title of this piece in the Atlantic by Richard Kim.   Simply put, it is brilliant, it is to the point, and absolutely you should read it.
Try his first paragraph, and you should see what I mean:

Ask yourself this: Do you know the name of any one of the victims killed in the West Chemical and Fertilizer Company disaster? Do you know how many of them there were? Their ages, aspirations, what they looked like, whether they left behind children or what messages they last posted on Facebook? Do you know if there is an explanation yet for what caused the explosion? Or if investigators are still searching for one?

And here's his conclusion:

Last night, a Fox news anchor cited a poll that claimed that just 4 percent of Americans think gun control is the “the most important problem facing the country today.” Implicit in his commentary is the idea that because gun violence isn’t seen as the singularly most urgent issue, it isn’t an issue at all, that like workplace fatalities are to a modern economy, so gun violence is to the Second 

Paul Krugman writes powerfully

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

on The Jobless Trap, his column for Monday's New York Times, which begins

F.D.R. told us that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself. But when future historians look back at our monstrously failed response to economic depression, they probably won’t blame fear, per se. Instead, they’ll castigate our leaders for fearing the wrong things.

By now, anyone who has been paying attention knows that Krugman has been sounding a clarion call that austerity is the wrong path and we must focus on the creation of jobs.  He goes through the arguments of the "austerians" such as the supposed - but false - idea that when the debt hits 90% of GDP there is some irreversible tipping point.  He reminds us that we aren't Greece, we control our own currency, and despite years of dire warning the government can still borrow at very low rates.  And then there is this:

But while debt fears were and are misguided, there’s a real danger we’ve ignored: the corrosive effect, social and economic, of persistent high unemployment. And even as the case for debt hysteria is collapsing, our worst fears about the damage from long-term unemployment are being confirmed.

If I have your attention and you hereby commit to go read his column, you can stop with this.   Otherwise, please 

Pearson flubs test scoring for gifted-and-talented programs:

Pearson flubs test scoring for gifted-and-talented programs

Posted by Valerie Strauss on April 22, 2013 at 4:00 am

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Pearson, the world’s largest education company, was just forced to apologize for making errors in its scoring of assessments for entry into gifted-and-talented programs in New York City public schools.

Sound familiar? The part about Pearsonerring should. It keeps happening.

In 2010, for example, six of Florida’s largest school districts formally complained to state officials about problems with scores of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests and have asked the state to delay releasing grades given to schools based on the scores from Pearson. Not long after, problems were flagged in Minnesota, where results for the science standardized test were released late because Pearson incorrectly scored two questions on the fifth- and eighth-grade tests. Last year, there was the famous New York “talking pineapple scandal,” involving a story about a talking pineapple that made no sense. The test question was thrown out.

Those are just a few of the examples of problems that have been found over the years with tests designed by Pearson.

In the latest instance in New York, scoring errors cut out some children who had qualified for city gifted programs and let in some who did not. Given that the company has a $32 million contract with the city for these tests, 

An English-only school district? Check this document

by Valerie Strauss

Look at this Home Language Survey Form that parents recently received from D.C. Public Schools. What’s wrong with it?

Missouri Education Watchdog: You Can Opt Your Child Out of Pilot Common Core Testing or Practice Creative Protest

Missouri Education Watchdog: You Can Opt Your Child Out of Pilot Common Core Testing or Practice Creative Protest:

You Can Opt Your Child Out of Pilot Common Core Testing or Practice Creative Protest

by stlgretchen

This memo from DESE on a Common Core assessment pilot for your children makes it sound as if there was a huge demand for more pilot testing in the districts:

Due to the overwhelming demand for access to the Volunteer Pilotassessment from principals, teachers, parents, and the public in Missouri and acrossthe Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, the Smarter Balanced AssessmentConsortium has decided to release a more complete and more broadly available“practice test” in lieu of the Volunteer Pilot assessment.

...the Practice Test will be available beginning Wednesday, May 29. We understand thatfor many schools, this later start date may be too close to—or, in some cases, after—the

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Rahm campaign donors, Chicago Hotel developers also bullish on charter schools

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Rahm campaign donors, Chicago Hotel developers also bullish on charter schools:

Rahm campaign donors, Chicago Hotel developers also bullish on charter schools

by Mike Klonsky

Here's a funny quote from the mayor of Chicago

"Government can no longer be an insider's game, serving primarily the lobbyists and well-connected." -- Rahm Emanuel

Chicago Tribune

Time for Teacher Unions to Hop Off the Common Core Train - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Time for Teacher Unions to Hop Off the Common Core Train - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Time for Teacher Unions to Hop Off the Common Core Train

by Anthony Cody

The two largest teacher unions in the US have positioned themselves as active supporters of the Common Core (wanted to be national) Standards. A visit to the NEA web site reveals President Dennis Van Roekel's columnpraising the project.
He writes:

CCSS offers a vivid, practical example of NEA's Leading the Professions initiative, a three-part plan to transform the teaching profession and accelerate student learning. Educators will have the opportunity to translate these broad standards into creative, relevant, and engaging class lessons that help students learn in new ways that truly prepare them for lifelong learning. This is not to downplay anyone wrestling with doubt about Common Core - states will struggle, some educators will chafe - but as long as we can accept this, and embrace the transition, educators and public education can come out ahead.

The American Federation of Teachers has a bit of a mixed message. On the one hand, we have the

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

by Mike Klonsky

U.S. Reps Bobby Rush and Danny Davis conducted hearings Saturday, on Chicago school closings

Congressman  Bobby Rush

"There is no way that you’re going to heal these neighborhoods. If it was just Henson [Elementary in Englewood]…but you're talking about 53 schools...all at the same time. It is unheard of in the history of this state." -- DNAInfo

Matt Farmer

Chicago’s school “reform” efforts have always worked best on other people’s children. --Washington Post 

At the hearings (DNAInfo)

Ald. Robert Fioretti

"It has pitted neighbor against neighbor and community against community, having a severe psychological effect," People wonder, "What did my teachers do wrong? What did my principals 

BREAKING: We have a scanned sample of a “Grade 3 ELA exam” passage with questions – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

BREAKING: We have a scanned sample of a “Grade 3 ELA exam” passage with questions – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER:

BREAKING: We have a scanned sample of a “Grade 3 ELA exam” passage with questions

by Chalk Face, PhD

Interesting. A sample passage with a few questions.* It looks like they’re going to double down on